Magic

Magic plays a huge part in the world as it is now known, with a fairly large percentage of the populace possessing some level of casting ability. This ranges from being able to see a little better than average in the dark right through to being able to summon fireballs capable of destroying buildings. People with no magical abilities are capable of holding high offices, but they tend to be looked down on as common or even primitive by those with gifted abilities.

Magic is an innate ability and is part of a person's natural being. It is not something that can be learned by those without the natural gift for it. Sometimes it is missed and not picked up on at all, especially in less wealthy and educated people.

Whilst a large amount of magic users are trained in Edinburgh, some are given training and development in a city that focuses on things that their magic could be beneficial to. For example, a lot of advanced healers are trained in Manchester and then taken on by the hospital and research facility.

Spells and magic abilities vary in power depending on the training and abilities of the person casting them. Someone who has studied their abilities to a great degree and has many years of practice will be capable of a lot more than someone who has only got a rough idea of what they are doing. Studying magic is difficult and costly, and a lot of people can only afford to do it if they have received some kind of help or sponsor from a facility that is willing to teach them. For example the managers of the research facility in Liverpool are likely going to help significantly with the training of someone capable of reading the minds of lesser demon races.

All spells and abilities require a cool-off time after they have been cast and this varies dramatically between spells. A healer might be able to cure one graze after another without a break, but a summoner calling on a lesser demon lord might only be able to do so once a week. It depends on the intensity of the spell and the casters ability and training.

Whilst magical abilities vary dramatically from one person to the next, all the various types of magic fall into one of the categories below. Most magic users can only use spell types from one category, but advanced casters are able to draw on complimenting magics and spells from more than one category. It is possible to play a magic user with skill sets different from those listed below, please just chat with an admin before you app them so we can be sure they will fit into the setting.


Alchemy
On the surface a very limited skillset, alchemists are often prized by underground movements such as black market traders and brothel owners. They possess the ability to make objects look like something they are not, for example they could make a brass plate look like a gold one or make an ugly old crone look like a voluptuous beauty that men would give all their worldly possessions to spend a night with. Anyone with any kind of true experience in the value of such things could tell that it was a fake, but to a naïve person they look 100% genuine. A very highly trained alchemist, however, could fool even true connoisseurs.


Conjuration
One of the less common forms of spell ability, conjuration is seen in both humans and demons. Conjuration abilities allow the caster the ability to summon creatures to their aid and psychically control them. The type of creatures that can be summoned and the extent of the control varies dramatically depending on the skills and training of the caster. A low ability caster might only be able to summon and have limited control over two mice and be able to make them do little more than stand still. A highly advanced caster could summon a lesser demon lord and make it bend to his will completely. They need to be aware, however. The abilities have a limited time frame, and if the creature is not unsummoned before the time runs out, then it regains its own free will and is likely to attack the caster if that is what it wishes to do.


Draining
This is not a spell set as such, but an unnatural ability instead. Drainers are very rarely seen outside the demon castes and are always treated with fear and loathing. Most of the demons that chose to stay on the material plane after a Hellgate closes are drainers who have taken a shine to the essence of humans that they drain. Drainers feed on the life source of others, literally draining away the life of their victims in order to increase their own powers and/ or heal themselves. How they drain varies from one individual to the next depending on what life source they require. Some feed on blood energy (‘vampires’), some on sexual energy (‘incubi/ succubae’) and others on different energies altogether. A lot of drainers have a secondary ability set, one that intertwines with their draining abilities.


Elemental
A fairly new school of magic, elementalists posses the ability to control specific elements. The four elements are earth, air, water and fire. This spell casting range is seen in both humans and demons in equal measure. Earth elementalists are able to control plant and animal life, with advanced casters able to have full control of plants and animals within their field of vision. Very advanced and highly trained earthen elementalists are able to control the earth itself; earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and avalanches. Air elementalists have control over the weather and winds, capable of summoning storms and devastating winds and floods after training. Water elementalists with sufficient training are able to control floods and the rain, and few are even able to control the water within a person, parching or drowning them. Water elementalists are very rare in demonkind. Fire elementalists, however, are much more common in demons than humans. Fire elementalists of training are able to control volcanoes and create vast infernos, with a few able to burn flesh with merely a glance.

Healing
As the name suggests, magic from this category is of the healing variety. This can be anything from sealing a graze right through to preventing death in the very sick. Many healers are trained in Manchester, but recently the clinics in the other cities have been starting to invest more and more in magic users capable of assisting them. Healing spells have the opposite effect on Necro demons, damaging them instead of healing them. This makes a powerful healer an exceptionally useful ally in battle against Hellspawn. These abilities are rare in demonkind.


Necromancy
Necromancy is the ability to control, summon or otherwise have power over the dead. Viewed by most as a very dark art, it is rarely seen outside demons and their ilk. The few humans that do possess necromantic abilities usually keep their skills secret for fear of being accused of being in league with Hellspawn, and a few actually devote their abilities to helping those on the other side of the Hellgates in hope of a reward or safety from attack. Necromancers of significant power are able to summon and control Necro demons, and a few are able to raise deceased humans as undead minions.


Shifting
Shifters have the ability to change their form into that of another living creature. This ability is usually limited to one specific species, for example: tiger, wolf, shark or mouse. It is never seen in demonkind. After intensive training the shifter can usually control things such as the size and colour of the beast they shift into, and advanced shifters can be capable of changing into an animal many times larger than the species naturally is. Shifters are fairly rare amongst casters and often viewed as lower classing, but a well trained shifter can be invaluable as a spy, scout, means of transport or weapon.


Trickery
Trickery encompasses a very wide variety of spells and abilities, none of which are trusted or considered proper in what now passes for polite society. These are the spells of the rogues, whores and tricksy demons, those who aim to subvert, humiliate or take advantage of others in some way, shape or form. These skills are common in back street traders, brothels and hell. They cover a huge variety of things, including (but definitely not limited to) making objects vibrate, being able to move objects without touching them, making things disappear, being able to change certain aspects of their appearance, moving silently, touching objects from a distance and influencing decisions.